Scrap waiver, analyst urges as $50M worth of e-commerce goods go untaxed daily

Dinh Trong Thinh, speaking at a recent forum hosted by the Vietnam Government Portal, said: "The taxes from these goods would be substantial, but for now we are imposing no tax. Our current policies are not ideal."

Many countries tax low-value e-commerce goods, he said citing several examples.

The E.U. scrapped tax waivers for goods valued at below 22 euros in 2021, the U.K. now taxes goods valued at under 135 pounds and Vietnam’s neighbor Thailand imposes a uniform 7% tax on all incoming and outgoing goods, he said.

In 2010 Vietnam scrapped taxes on goods valued at less than VND1 million ($41) to reduce congestion at border gates.

But Thinh pointed out that digital systems could now display trade data in less than a second, and so the tax exemption should be scrapped.

He also urged the government to build a large database for tax purposes.

Tax collection from e-commerce increased by 17% last year to VND97 trillion, and in just the first seven months of this year the figure rose to VND78 trillion.

The taxes were paid by domestic vendors and global tech companies such as Google, Facebook and Amazon.

Nguyen Thi Lan Anh, head of the tax management office for small and medium businesses and individuals, said the Ministry of Finance is considering taxing low-value goods and mulling policy changes to improve tax collection in e-commerce.